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Texas Gun Supporters Laud as Hero Neighbor Who Killed Intruders
Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Quiet streets in the Houston suburb of Pasadena
filled with hundreds of gun supporters and civil- rights activists after
homeowner Joe Horn shot two men who broke into his neighbor's house.
``Move, you're dead!'' Horn is heard shouting to the men on the tape of his
call to a 911 operator. The warning is followed by the sound of shotgun
blasts that killed both intruders.
In Texas, which doesn't require that guns be registered, residents are
divided over whether to praise or imprison Horn, who ignored the operator's
pleas to stay inside his own house until police arrived. Clashes between
opposing protestors two weeks after the Nov. 14 shooting led Pasadena to
enact a ban on targeted picketing of a home.
The shooting is sparking arguments over guns, property rights, race and
immigration. The intruders, Diego Ortiz and Hernando Torres, were in the
U.S. illegally from Colombia, Pasadena police said.
``Joe Horn was the good neighbor when he called 911, but he became a
criminal when he took it upon himself to shoot those men in cold blood,''
said Quanell X, spokesman for the New Black Panther Nation in Houston. ``I
do not believe if this man had killed two young white men, shot them in the
back running from him, that he would still be called a hero.''
A grand jury will determine whether to charge Horn with a crime, according
to the district attorney's office. Horn declined to comment, said Tom
Lambright, his attorney.
Horn ``did what everybody wishes they would do in a situation like that,''
Lambright said. ``He went outside to help protect his neighborhood and help
protect the people of that neighborhood.''
A Web site supporting Horn, who is white, is seeking donations for his legal
costs and promises to forward messages to him.
``The ability to defend our families and our homes should be a fundamental
right for all citizens,'' the site says. ``It's not just a right, it's a
responsibility.''
Horn, 61, said in a November statement that ``any loss of life casts
permanent devastation over the lives of everyone involved. The events of
that day will weigh heavily on me for the rest of my life.''
Horn probably wishes he hadn't pulled the trigger, said Kimble Lehman, who
lives nearby. Lehman, 60, said that while he hates the idea of killing
someone, he would shoot if he saw an intruder trying to steal from a
neighbor.
``People are getting to the point where they're going to draw the line,''
Lehman said. ``Joe Horn was put in the unenviable position of being a person
that, for lack of a better term, may be on the cutting edge of the general
population taking their self, their safety and their well-being back away
from the criminals.''
Horn's Resolution
Horn became increasingly agitated during his 911 call, saying he wasn't
going to let the men get away with the break- in.
``Property's not worth killing someone over,'' the operator told him.
Later in the call, Horn said, ``You hear the shotgun clicking, and I'm
going.''
The Texas penal code allows the use of deadly force to protect property,
including a third party's, under certain conditions. Lynne Parsons, an
assistant district attorney in Harris County, declined to say when the case
will be presented to a grand jury.
If he is tried, Horn may have to show that he thought the neighbor's
property couldn't be recovered any other way, said Sandra Guerra Thompson, a
professor at the University of Houston Law Center. She said the verdict
would depend on the ``reasonableness'' jurors saw in his action.
Defense of City
Ralph Riggs, a city council member who's running for mayor, said he doesn't
think Horn should be indicted. He also defended Pasadena's decision to
restrict picketing.
``You cannot completely stop protests in our country, and that's a good
thing,'' Riggs said. ``But this thing had gotten out of hand so quickly that
you could not have gotten any kind of emergency vehicle down there and it
could have almost started a riot with the number of people.''
Riggs accused Quanell X of stirring up conflict to generate publicity, while
Quanell X called the picketing ban a waste of time and said the white
community isn't interested in toughening gun laws.
``They really care that a message was sent to black men that if you come
into a white area like Pasadena, you will be killed,'' Quanell X said.
Diverse Community
The subdivision where the shooting occurred is diverse, making suggestions
of racism unfair, said Michael Sabo, who lives there.
``I think that Quanell X is using it as a soapbox to push his cause, and
he's trying to spin it his way,'' said Sabo, 32.
The situation is thorny for some who support the right to bear arms,
including Mari Thompson of Lakeway, Texas, president of the Second Amendment
Sisters, a women's rights group that supports self-defense. Thompson said
killing someone changes the killer, even when the act was justified.
``I would not have done it,'' she said. ``The only way I would ever shoot
another person is if I were convinced it's me or him.''
Texas Gun Supporters Laud as Hero Neighbor Who Killed Intruders
Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Quiet streets in the Houston suburb of Pasadena
filled with hundreds of gun supporters and civil- rights activists after
homeowner Joe Horn shot two men who broke into his neighbor's house.
``Move, you're dead!'' Horn is heard shouting to the men on the tape of his
call to a 911 operator. The warning is followed by the sound of shotgun
blasts that killed both intruders.
In Texas, which doesn't require that guns be registered, residents are
divided over whether to praise or imprison Horn, who ignored the operator's
pleas to stay inside his own house until police arrived. Clashes between
opposing protestors two weeks after the Nov. 14 shooting led Pasadena to
enact a ban on targeted picketing of a home.
The shooting is sparking arguments over guns, property rights, race and
immigration. The intruders, Diego Ortiz and Hernando Torres, were in the
U.S. illegally from Colombia, Pasadena police said.
``Joe Horn was the good neighbor when he called 911, but he became a
criminal when he took it upon himself to shoot those men in cold blood,''
said Quanell X, spokesman for the New Black Panther Nation in Houston. ``I
do not believe if this man had killed two young white men, shot them in the
back running from him, that he would still be called a hero.''
A grand jury will determine whether to charge Horn with a crime, according
to the district attorney's office. Horn declined to comment, said Tom
Lambright, his attorney.
Horn ``did what everybody wishes they would do in a situation like that,''
Lambright said. ``He went outside to help protect his neighborhood and help
protect the people of that neighborhood.''
A Web site supporting Horn, who is white, is seeking donations for his legal
costs and promises to forward messages to him.
``The ability to defend our families and our homes should be a fundamental
right for all citizens,'' the site says. ``It's not just a right, it's a
responsibility.''
Horn, 61, said in a November statement that ``any loss of life casts
permanent devastation over the lives of everyone involved. The events of
that day will weigh heavily on me for the rest of my life.''
Horn probably wishes he hadn't pulled the trigger, said Kimble Lehman, who
lives nearby. Lehman, 60, said that while he hates the idea of killing
someone, he would shoot if he saw an intruder trying to steal from a
neighbor.
``People are getting to the point where they're going to draw the line,''
Lehman said. ``Joe Horn was put in the unenviable position of being a person
that, for lack of a better term, may be on the cutting edge of the general
population taking their self, their safety and their well-being back away
from the criminals.''
Horn's Resolution
Horn became increasingly agitated during his 911 call, saying he wasn't
going to let the men get away with the break- in.
``Property's not worth killing someone over,'' the operator told him.
Later in the call, Horn said, ``You hear the shotgun clicking, and I'm
going.''
The Texas penal code allows the use of deadly force to protect property,
including a third party's, under certain conditions. Lynne Parsons, an
assistant district attorney in Harris County, declined to say when the case
will be presented to a grand jury.
If he is tried, Horn may have to show that he thought the neighbor's
property couldn't be recovered any other way, said Sandra Guerra Thompson, a
professor at the University of Houston Law Center. She said the verdict
would depend on the ``reasonableness'' jurors saw in his action.
Defense of City
Ralph Riggs, a city council member who's running for mayor, said he doesn't
think Horn should be indicted. He also defended Pasadena's decision to
restrict picketing.
``You cannot completely stop protests in our country, and that's a good
thing,'' Riggs said. ``But this thing had gotten out of hand so quickly that
you could not have gotten any kind of emergency vehicle down there and it
could have almost started a riot with the number of people.''
Riggs accused Quanell X of stirring up conflict to generate publicity, while
Quanell X called the picketing ban a waste of time and said the white
community isn't interested in toughening gun laws.
``They really care that a message was sent to black men that if you come
into a white area like Pasadena, you will be killed,'' Quanell X said.
Diverse Community
The subdivision where the shooting occurred is diverse, making suggestions
of racism unfair, said Michael Sabo, who lives there.
``I think that Quanell X is using it as a soapbox to push his cause, and
he's trying to spin it his way,'' said Sabo, 32.
The situation is thorny for some who support the right to bear arms,
including Mari Thompson of Lakeway, Texas, president of the Second Amendment
Sisters, a women's rights group that supports self-defense. Thompson said
killing someone changes the killer, even when the act was justified.
``I would not have done it,'' she said. ``The only way I would ever shoot
another person is if I were convinced it's me or him.''
